The 10-billionth Bosch spark plug recently rolled off the production line at the Bamberg, plant, making Bosch the world's most prolific manufacturer of spark plugs. Laid end-to-end, all the Bosch spark plugs together would form a chain stretching for more than 347,000 miles, circling the equator around 14 times. A hundred years ago, Bosch produced just a few hundred spark plugs a year. Today, the figure is more than 300 million, and the spark plugs are produced in factories around the world.

Bosch unveiled its first spark plugs combined with a high-voltage magneto, and patented the innovative system on January 7, 1902. Bosch's reliable ignition system for engines with ever increasing speeds finally solved what Carl Benz described as the "problem of all problems" in early automotive engineering. The spark plug in combination with industrial manufacturing techniques opened the way for the surge in vehicle production experienced during the following decades. The result was affordable vehicles for everyone.

Today, constant developments in Bosch spark plugs as integral system components have made a significant contribution toward more economical, cleaner, and more efficient fuel combustion, as well as to more reliable engines and catalytic converters.

In recent years in particular, Bosch has demonstrated the ongoing potential of its flagship product, adapting it to the ever-changing developments in engine technology such as 4-valve engines, lean-burn engines, or ultra-efficient direct fuel injection. The versatility of Bosch spark plugs is the result of design modifications and the use of special metals such as platinum and iridium, or yttrium.

With a long history of expertise in the field and its intensive spark plug development projects in close collaboration with almost all vehicle manufacturers, Bosch is one of the world's leading suppliers for the original equipment market and retail, and is the market leader in Europe. Many top vehicle manufacturers use Bosch spark plugs as standard: Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Citroen, Daewoo, Daimler-Chrysler, Fiat, Ford, GM, Lancia, Mitsubishi, Opel, Peugeot, Porsche, Renault, Saab, Seat, Skoda, Ssangyong, Suzuki, Toyota, Vauxhall, Volvo, and Volkswagen are just some of our clients.

Details of which Bosch spark plug is suitable for your vehicle are available on the Web. Click the "Vehicle Part Finder" link in the right column.

Bosch has produced and shipped the company’s 150 millionth brake control system, a milestone for a technology that began with antilock braking system (ABS) approximately 30 years ago, followed by other Bosch system innovations such as traction control system (TCS) and electronic stability control (ESC). Currently, Bosch produces more than 65,000 brake control systems daily at six locations worldwide, and in 2007 the production network will expand with a new facility in Brazil.

“This production milestone is a clear example of our customers’ growing demand for our innovative and reliable automotive products that provide increased vehicle safety and stability,” said Scott Dahl, director of marketing and product planning, Robert Bosch LLC. “Bosch’s ABS, TCS and ESC technologies are proven to deliver an outstanding level of safety for consumers, and we continue to develop additional features to increase future vehicle safety.”

In 1978, Bosch launched the first electronically controlled ABS, followed by TCS in 1986 and ESC in 1995. Bosch, the company that pioneered ESC, first brought the technology to market on the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Today, Bosch ESC is featured on such vehicles as the BMW X3, BMW X5, Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Silverado, Chrysler Pacifica, Dodge Durango, GMC Acadia and Toyota Camry.

An Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) study released in 2006 highlighted the significant safety benefits of ESC by determining that if installed on all vehicles, ESC could prevent nearly one-third of fatal crashes each year, up to 10,000; reduce rollover risk by as much as 80 percent; and reduce insurance losses under collision coverage by approximately 15 percent.

Additionally, Bosch is the leader in the ongoing development of ESC by expanding the innovations to include features such as roll mitigation function (RMF), used to aid in the prevention of vehicle rollover in high center of gravity vehicles, and trailer sway mitigation (TSM), used to prevent unstable oscillations and trailer sway. Bosch also offers other value-added ESC functions, including hill descent control, hill hold control, soft stop, traffic jam assist and controlled deceleration driver assistance systems.

For more information about Bosch Electronic Stability Control (ESC), click the "Bosch-ESCential" link in the right column.

Bosch has reached a ten-year milestone for its diesel common rail technology, which assists in emissions reduction for today’s clean diesel engines.  In 1997, Bosch became the first company to manufacture the common rail injection system for passenger cars.  During the past 10 years, more than 33 million engines have been equipped with Bosch common rail technology.

The advantages offered by today’s clean diesel passenger vehicles, in comparison to gasoline vehicles, include an average increase in fuel economy of 30 percent; a decrease in carbon dioxide emissions by up to 20 percent; and, an increase in torque of up to 50 percent.

Bosch’s latest generation common rail system has impressively demonstrated developments leading to today’s emission standards, with innovative piezo-inline technology, featuring a system pressure of 1,800 bar.  Compared with previous common rail systems, and based on design concepts, the latest generation common rail with piezo-inline technology has the potential of reducing fuel consumption by an additional three percent, lowering polluting emissions by up to 20 percent, boosting engine power by up to five percent and reducing engine noise by up to three percent.

Bosch is further developing the common rail system with piezo and solenoid actuators, which is planned for release in 2007.  The upgrade will achieve system pressures of up to 2,000 bar for further reduction of pollutants.

Learn more about diesel common rail technology. Click on the right column link: "10 years of common rail injectors: test your knowledge."